When Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi appeared in the Al-Nuri Mosque in Mosul, Iraq, on June 20, 2014, declaring the establishment of a caliphate, few believed that two years later ISIS would become even more dangerous, emerging as one of the wealthiest terrorist networks in the world, capable of seizing 40% of Iraqi territory and a third of Syrian lands within two years. Following successive victories in Iraq and Syria, ISIS announced in 2015 its expansion of operations to the Middle East, with a focus on reviving the Khorasan province. Beyond discussing the genesis and factors behind ISIS, this article concentrates on the formation of ISIS Khorasan and provides an overview of its leadership from inception to the present.
In 2015, ISIS appointed Hafiz Saeed, a prominent member of the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), as the leader and Abdul Rauf Alizai, also known as Abdul Rauf Khadim, and Abdul Hasib as his deputies for the ISIS Khorasan network. Consequently, ISIS Khorasan’s activities commenced in Afghanistan in 2015.
Hafiz Saeed and His Role in Establishing ISIS Khorasan
Hafiz Saeed, also known as Mullah Saeed Orakzai, was born in 1972 in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Until the formation of the Pakistani Taliban by Baitullah Mehsud in 2007, he was associated with the Afghan Taliban. His relations with the TTP witnessed fluctuations after the death of Baitullah Mehsud, escalating after the killing of Hakimullah Mehsud. These conflicts led him to travel with several Orakzai families and individuals under his command from Pakistan to Nangarhar, Afghanistan, in 2014, where he founded the Tehrik-e-Khilafat Pakistan (TKP) in the border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, his connections with ISIS date back to 2012.
Based on his close ties with Al-Qaeda and its leaders, Hafiz Saeed dispatched around 150 Afghan and Pakistani citizens to fight alongside Jabhat al-Nusra militants, established by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to support opponents of Bashar al-Assad. This proximity led ISIS to consider him a suitable and loyal figure when contemplating expanding its operations. Consequently, Hafiz Saeed was officially declared the leader of ISIS Khorasan in early 2015. He immediately formed the leadership council of ISIS Khorasan, including several prominent TTP members close to him, such as Shahidullah Shahid and Gul Zaman. Districts like Achin, Kot, Nazian, Torabora, and Haska Meyna in Nangarhar province became the main strongholds of ISIS Khorasan. Thus, the first terrorist attack claimed by ISIS Khorasan occurred in Nangarhar province, resulting in the death of three police officers. Terrorist networks like the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and factions of the Taliban also openly pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2015. Hafiz Saeed perished in a US drone strike in Nangarhar province in 2016.
Among the other key figures in the formation of ISIS Khorasan was Abdul Rauf Khadim. Abdul Rauf Khadim, one of Hafiz Saeed’s deputies, was born in Helmand province. Khadim hailed from the Ali Zai tribe and was among the prominent commanders of the Taliban, comparable to figures like Mullah Fazl, Qayum Zakir, and Mullah Dadullah. During the first Taliban regime, Khadim served as a central corps commander. He had very close relations with Mullah Omar and played a fundamental role in suppressing the people and causing destruction in northern Kabul. After the fall of the Taliban, he was apprehended and transferred to Guantanamo. He was released from prison in 2010, returned to Afghanistan, and eventually joined the ranks of the Taliban, and ultimately ISIS Khorasan. Khadim was killed in an airstrike by American forces in Helmand province in 2015. He can be considered one of the main founders of ISIS Khorasan, particularly in the southern region of the country.
Following Hafiz Saeed, Abdul Hasib Logari assumed leadership of the ISIS Khorasan branch. Logari was born in the Karam Agency area of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. He received religious education at Salafi schools in Pakistan such as the Imam Bukhari Madrasa and the Ganj Farah School. Before joining ISIS, he was a member of the Taliban and served as one of Hafiz Saeed’s deputies during his leadership of ISIS Khorasan. Logari was one of the most ruthless leaders of ISIS Khorasan, orchestrating deadly terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan during his tenure. One of the most significant attacks was the suicide bombing at the Dehmazang intersection, which resulted in the deaths and injuries of over 400 people. Additionally, attacks on the Sardar Mohammad Dawood Khan Hospital (400 beds) and a suicide bombing at the Baqer-ul-Uloom School were among the other major attacks carried out by ISIS during Logari’s leadership. Abdul Hasib Logari was killed in a joint operation by Afghan defense and security forces and US special forces in the Achin district of Nangarhar province after several hours of fighting in 2017.
ISIS Khorasan was able to establish educational and training camps in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces between 2015 and 2018, including the Abu Omar al-Shishani training camp managed by Iraqi and Syrian members of the group. They disseminated videos and images of their members through their media outlets, which were active at the time. Although there was never an exact figure of the number of ISIS Khorasan members, reports estimated the total membership between three to four thousand between 2016 and 2017.
In 2017, the US used the “Mother of All Bombs” weighing over 9 tons on ISIS hideouts in the Achin district of Nangarhar, resulting in the deaths of over 90 ISIS members. The majority of them were from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India.
After Abdul Hasib Logari, his deputy Abdul Rahman Ghaleb, known as Abu Saeed Bajauri, a native of Bajaur, Pakistan, was appointed as the leader of ISIS Khorasan. Before assuming leadership, Abu Saeed Bajauri also worked as the head of ISIS Khorasan in Nangarhar. He received religious education in Pakistani schools and joined the Taliban during the first Taliban regime. He became a member of TTP after 2007. Abu Saeed Bajauri was killed in July 2017 in the Watapur district of Kunar province as a result of a US airstrike.
It is noteworthy that, according to some reports, after the death of Abdul Hasib, Hafiz Saeed’s brother, known as Erahbi, briefly assumed leadership of ISIS Khorasan.
The next leader of ISIS Khorasan was Abdullah Orakzai, known as Aslam Farooqi, who took over leadership of the network in 2018. He was born in the Orakzai area of Pakistan and belonged to the Mamozai tribe ethnically. Farooqi was notorious for his hostility towards Shias since his youth. Before joining TTP, he was associated with terrorist networks like Sipah-e-Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which, like ISIS, vehemently opposed Shia followers. Farooqi was a member of the Afghan Taliban until the formation of TTP. Farooqi’s ascension to the helm of ISIS Khorasan was met with opposition from allied groups like the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), who considered him a pawn of Pakistani intelligence.
Some of the significant operations during Farooqi’s tenure include attacks on the Ministry of Communications building in Kabul, the high-profile attack on Abdul Ali Mazari’s commemoration ceremony, the attack on the Dasht-e-Sikoh area in Kabul, and several explosions in Quetta, Pakistan. Farooqi was captured and imprisoned by the Afghan National Security Forces in 2020. After the Taliban regained power, like hundreds of other ISIS members, he escaped from prison.
The current leader of ISIS Khorasan is Sanaullah Ghafari, known as Shahab al-Muhajir. He was born in 1990 in the Khwroti village of Mirbacha Kot district, Kabul province. Before joining ISIS, he had close relations and cooperation with the Haqqani Network of the Taliban. He was a student at Kabul University and had considerable IT skills. Despite his young age, he managed to evade intelligence agencies’ pursuit over the past four years. Among the leaders of ISIS Khorasan, Ghafari has spent the most time, showcasing his cleverness. His areas of operation are mainly in northern Balkh province and eastern provinces like Kunar and Nangarhar.
During Ghafari’s leadership, ISIS Khorasan has been able to carry out several significant operations, including the Kabul airport gate attack, the Kaj institution attack, the attack on the Balkh provincial headquarters, and the elimination of the Taliban governor in the province, the attack on the Chinese Embassy in Kabul, the attack on the Russian Embassy in Kabul, several attacks in Iran and other regional countries, and the recent attacks in Kandahar and Moscow. Thus, this terrorist network has become a top threat to the internal security of regional countries and Afghanistan.
Although the number of ISIS Khorasan attacks decreased from 112 in 2022 to 22 in 2023, it is important to remember that in terms of significance and quality, they were better than in previous years. This indicates a resurgence of this terrorist network.